Three athletes from Oakville will compete in this year’s Olympics and Paralympics

Three athletes from Oakville are set to compete in this year’s Paris Olympic games. 

The event, which started three days ago (July 26), is already in full swing, with a contingent of 318 Canadian athletes all looking for their place on the podium. 

Here are Oakville’s athletes alongside their official Olympic biographies: 

Simon McTavish: Canoe/Kayak – Sprint 

While 28-year-old Simon McTavish was born in Oakville, he represented Australia for nearly seven years, after he moved there with his family back in 2007. He competed alongside Australian divisions until 2019, where upon completing his university degree, he returned to Canada

McTavish’s first leap into international competition was the 2012 Olympic Hopes regatta in Hungary, after which, he then went on to compete in both the 2014 World Junior Championships and three editions of the U23 World Championships — where he won a silver medal in the K-1 1000m in 2018

In 2018, he also won a pair of gold medals at the FISU World University Championships and made his World Cup debut.

McTavish made his first debut for Canada at the first World Cup event of 2019 in Poznan, Poland, where he finished fourth place with the K-4 500m crew and made the B final in the K-1 1000m. At the 2019 World Championships, he was part of the K-4 500m team that qualified the boat for Canada for Tokyo 2020.

In his first Olympic appearance McTavish competed in the K-1 1000m and the K-4 500m.

Melanie Hawtin: Wheelchair Basketball 

Born in Oakville, Melanie Hawtin initially set her sights at a young age on the competitive gauntlet of wheelchair racing, intending to represent Canada in the Paralympic Games

However, an emergency surgery put Hawtin’s racing dreams on hold, and during her recovery, she started playing wheelchair basketball. After her foray into the sport, Hawtin started competing with the Burlington Vipers club before moving on to represent all of Ontario at the women’s national championship in 2013.

Due to Hawtin’s youth spent training for wheelchair racing, it should come as no surprise that speed is Hawtin’s number one asset, as she famously outpaces her opponents during her matches. After gaining the attention of the National Team program, she was the Senior Women’s National Team in 2014. She made her Paralympic debut two years later at Rio 2016, where Canada finished fifth.

In 2019, Hawtin had to undergo shoulder surgery, which resulted in her being absent from the 2019 Parapan American Games. However, she returned for Tokyo 2020 and the 2023 World Championships at which Canada placed fifth each time.

She was also on the 2023 Parapan Am Games team that won silver and the undefeated 2024 squad at the Paralympic Games qualifier.

She is 36.

Taylor Perry (No Photo Available): Women’s Rugby

Taylor Perry is another Oakville-based Olympian who will also be competing in Paris.

She is representing her hometown as an alternate for Canada’s women’s rugby team.